Positive news for Putnam County Pit Bulls

March 30, 2012

Putnam County, FL: It was a wonderful and huge sigh of relief for Pit Bull advocates in Putnam County, with the news that an agreement was reached between the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and Pit Sisters regarding adoption eligibility of Pit Bulls held at the shelter. The media releases issued by both Pit Sisters and the sheriff’s department state that the Office of Animal Control will now allow rescue of Pit Bulls from the shelter to authorized rescue groups.

A media frenzy had erupted when it was discovered that the shelter had a practice of never allowing Pit Bulls or any dogs resembling Pit Bulls to be offered up for adoption. The dogs were held for the mandatory holding period, and then killed by the cruel heart-stick method, regardless of whether or not someone wanted to adopt them. You can read the prior March 17th article about some of these issues here or at the link provided at the end of the article.

Jennifer Watson, a dedicated Pit Bull advocate from Pit Sisters held meetings with the Sheriff’s Department and finally reached the agreement this week. It was thanks to her determination, the voices of animal advocacy groups, and individual advocates from everywhere, that this positive agreement has been reached, and the lives of precious dogs will now have a chance at being saved.

Already, seven dogs have been allowed to go to rescue just since the new procedures were put into place. Three of those dogs are showcased here for you to view. You can see from their doggy smiles that they are happy, and they will now go on to loving forever homes.

The agreement stipulates that only authorized rescue groups can take the dogs. If you have a rescue group and are interested in helping to save some precious lives, you can obtain an application here or at the link provided below. Once your group has been approved, the process should be relatively easy to allow you to pull these dogs from the shelter.

This is a huge positive step for the Pit Bulls of Putnam County. Beyond that, it sends a message that can be heard around the globe that the practice of automatically killing a dog just because he/she looks like a Pit Bull, or actually is a Pit Bull, is completely unnecessary and misguided.

These are loyal and loving dogs, who are deserving of loving homes just like any other dogs are. The breed has been so maligned by the mass hysteria about them, which is why so many are killed every day without any chance at a new home. Hopefully, other shelters will see this positive outcome and make similar changes to their own practices, so even more lives can be saved.

A heartfelt thanks to Jennifer Watson, Pit Sisters, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and all advocates and groups who spoke out, giving a voice for these innocent dogs. Those voices were heard, and precious lives have been, and will continue to be saved because of it.

Click here for the application to see if your rescue can be considered eligible to pull Pit Bulls from the shelter.

Click here for the March 17th prior article about this issue.

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